Polish MEP Radosław Sikorski sent an open letter to Dutch newspaper NRC over a report about regular payments to a lawmaker to act as a consultant and alleged undisclosed paid luxury trips to Dubai .
“It is unfair to say that I do not announce my missions. I have always declared everything – as required – on the relevant website of the European Parliament,” the EPP group lawmaker said in a statement. Letter On Thursday addressed the editor of the publication.
This was a response to an investigation published about his ties to the United Arab Emirates WednesdayAccording to which Sikorsky regularly traveled to the UAE for “free stays in luxury resorts” and received €93,000 annually from the Gulf state for his role on the advisory board of the Sir Bani Yas Forum since 2017.
“In addition to his salary as an MEP, net €7,646 per month, he receives an additional $100,000 (€93,000) annually from the Emirates for advising the convention,” the NRC said.
But the legislator said in his letter published on Twitter that these “extra-parliamentary activities” are listed in his declaration of financial interests, which he has submitted to parliament. Polish Parliament.
Furthermore, he states that the Sir Bani Yas Forum is “the most prestigious conference on the Middle East”, referring to fellow members of the advisory board such as “the former Prime Minister of Australia and the former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom”, and also pointing out that It is reported that attendees of the 2022 Forum included the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and the European Union’s head of foreign affairs, Josep Borrell.
Sikorsky said it was wrong to link the “prestigious role” and his position as a member of the European Parliament.
Sikorsky’s Latest filing with the Polish Parliament Straight Sir accepts his role with the Bani Yes Forum and $100,000 compensation. their European Parliament disclosures, updated in 2021, said he grosses up to €10,000 per month for his activities with Sikorsky Global, his consulting service. Various advisory boards, including Sir Bani Yes, are involved in that work, according to the filing.
Sikorsky noted his participation in the forum in one or two days List of sittings on the website of the European Parliament, without giving details of individual discussions; His entries for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the Munich Security Conference are similar. However, he does not include any of those gatherings. set of announcements Regarding the expenses of events organized by third parties. Sikorsky told NRC that he was not required to provide details on the Emirates trip because “it was part of my paid outside activities.”
Sikorsky’s office declined to comment beyond his letter posted on Twitter.
“A direct impact cannot be demonstrated,” acknowledges the NRC report, even as its analysis finds that Sikorsky “takes a position that is favorable to the Emirates and its closest ally Saudi Arabia — Usually in line with his Christian Democratic group.”
The newspaper cited his support for an effort to soften a resolution on the Saudi death penalty, while he also voted against A European Parliament resolution calling on member states to stop arms supplies to Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2020.
Sikorski argued that his voting behavior was “exactly in line with the voting recommendations of the EPP group, my political group in the European Parliament.”
“I hope you will appreciate that I have complied with all national and European rules of transparency,” he added.
Measures to prevent conflicts of interest in Parliament are subject to little enforcement, and the issue of side jobs has been identified as a point of concern for political integrity.
The institution is currently working on improving its ttransparency law, with an emphasis on shining a brighter light on foreign influence. An investigation has implicated Eva Kelli, an ex-vice president of the European Parliament, and an ex-MEP who defected to the body’s human rights panel, both Social Democrats. According to the Belgian judiciary, he is accused of participating in a network of corruption and undue influence by Moroccan and Qatari interests.